Governance

Community-led mapping and enumerations are powerful tools to return power and democracy into the hands of the urban poor. Marcus Tudehope sets out twelve reasons why you and the communities you work within should embark upon an enumeration of your own.

Residents in Rotes Pleng listen as the community leader discusses the community's map. Photo: Meng CheangResidents of Sammaki Roung Reoung display the map of their community. Photo: Meng CheangWomen in Prek Talong discuss the results of their community mapping. Photo: Meng CheangChildren try to locate their homes on the map of the Kohnorea settlement. Photo: Meng CheangA community map in progress at Deoum Svay. Photo: Meng Cheang

Enumeration: to be counted; it is the fundamental basis of
inclusion in the city. To exclude a community from census and
mapping activities is to effectively render it invisible
to urban decision-making processes. But as the world urbanises, an
ever-increasing proportion of humanity is coming to reside in urban
poor settlements, outside the scope of most traditional methods of
enumeration such as government censuses which underpin land
management and urban planning. The implications of the trend for
how cities will look and function in coming decades are legion.
However one implication becoming increasingly apparent is the need
for more flexible and inclusive systems of mapping and counting in
developing cities.

In settings where the capacity or will to include the urban poor
in official mapping and enumeration activities is lacking,
participatory, community-led processes frequently come to
occupy the void. Following the seminal work of SPARC India's We
the invisible, its 1985 census of pavement dwellers in Mumbai,
the concept has gained international recognition and is now widely
practiced throughout the developing world. However, community maps
and data are not ends in themselves, but they can form vital steps
in the larger process of creating more inclusive cities. Here are
12 reasons why:

Accurate data can make urban poor settlements visible to local authorities. Whilst most residents will be able to communicate their situation in qualitative terms, accurate data allows them to express their concerns in quantitative terms that carry far more weight with decision-makers.

1. Moving from informality to formality

The traditional dichotomy between formal ownership of
titled land and informal occupation is inadequate. The
complex reality in which most people in urban poor settlements live
requires a more varied understanding of different types of tenure.
Since 2003 UN-HABITAT's Global Land Tool Network (GLTN) has put
forward a "continuum" model of tenure security — less resilient
customary use rights at one end, to stronger forms of adverse
possession, to leases and ultimately registered freehold — to give a
more fitting picture of conditions on the ground. Though criticised
for implying that freehold titles are the ultimate goal, it offers
a useful tool for examining tenure security. By giving residents
some documented recognition of their presence, mapping and
enumeration enhances both internal and external perceptions of a
community's legitimacy. This legitimacy helps advance a community
further along the continuum.

2. Evidence-based advocacy

Accurate data can make urban poor settlements visible
to local authorities. Whilst most residents will be able to
communicate their situation in qualitative terms, accurate
data allows them to express their concerns in
quantitative terms that carry far more weight with
decision-makers. For example a call for improved sanitation will be
greatly enhanced by knowing a community's ratio of persons to
toilet seats, rather than just a general appeal for an improvement
in the current sitaution.

3. Intra-community tenure security

Participatory mapping and enumeration conducted by someone
trusted by the community can greatly reduce the risk that someone
will be unjustly dispossessed of their land by a fellow resident.
For vulnerable members of settlements such as widows, the elderly
and female-headed households who may be excluded from inheritance
rights, this is particularly important. Increased tenure security
within a community is an important step towards the
security of the status of an urban poor settlement as a whole.

4. 'Counter-mapping' and data: more effective than
slogan-chanting

"Counter-mapping" refers to the development of alternatives to
official development plans. Plans may draw on concepts of "land
sharing" or "in-situ" development, and are used to tangibly
demonstrate that eviction of the urban poor is not a prerequisite
for the development of an area.

Community data can also be used to challenge official figures.
This is especially useful in environments where official
information channels are opaque and exclusionary. Accurate
population data can be used to quanitfy the extent of the problem
that would be created should an eviction take place. For example in
the Old Fadama neighbourhood of Accra, community enumerations were
able to demonstrate that a community had a population of 24,000
almost two and a half times government estimates of 10,000.
Accurate data can empower a community to counter misinformation
campaigns. Claims that residents are law-breaking "undesirables" or
unemployed layabouts who are not contributing to an area or are
"against development" can be directly countered with data on their
contribution to the local economy.

Mapping and enumeration activities can focus attention on a community; the process itself may attract media coverage, potentially assisting the community in enlisting support from civil society groups, political figures, religious groups and the wider population.

5. Community cohesion

Coming together to gather data can help a settlement see itself
more as a collective whole than as a set of individual households.
Enumerations can help identify common priorities, common needs and
help to focus and mobilise residents.

6. Community confidence

A collective group that presents a united front has much greater
political force than a series of detached voices. Community resolve
to adhere to a particular course of action is also much stronger
when residents know they are armed with data that is real, reliable
and defensible. For example when responding to an eviction threat,
confidence in dealing with local authorities and other agencies is
greatly enhanced when a community knows their position in
negotiations is based on accurate statistics.

7. External relationship building

Building an agreed-upon set of data allows communities and
external organisations to speak the same language. This can help
enhance trust and be beneficial in building relationships with NGOs
or other development agencies. The data can also be utilised by
external agencies to plan more effective interventions in the
community.

8. Legislation and enforcement

Appealing to the law in many cases requires accurate data on
elements such as the length of time a community or a particular
household has been in place. Possessing data obtained through a
legitimate, identifiable process is of vital importance and can
help establish legal rights. This is especially the case in
environments where legislation and policy are in principle
supportive of the urban poor, whilst differing in practice.

9. Raising the community profile

Mapping and enumeration activities can focus attention on a
community; the process itself may attract media coverage,
potentially assisting the community in enlisting support from civil
society groups, political figures, religious groups and the wider
population.

10. Community awareness and education

Enumerations can help to clarify and share information about a
community's legal status. In most urban poor settlements, residents
will have diverse levels of awareness of the legislation and policy
that affects them. Conceptions of ownership may also differ.
Residents may be under the impression that the informal processes
through which they acquired their land constitutes ownership in the
eyes of the law. Enumerations give an opportunity to clarify these
issues and build a stronger more informed community.

11. Illuminating complex ownership claims

In many urban poor settlements, a complex informal system of
ownership may be in operation. Households within settlements may
also have differing legal rights. Mapping and enumeration can help
identify and resolve ambiguities in informal systems.

12. Preparation for relocation

In situations where an eviction is unavoidable, mapping and
enumeration activities can help prepare communities for the
process, including compensation claims and land allocation
procedures at relocation sites. Where the compensation process has
a history of being controversial, it is vital the community possess
accurate data to cross-check against official figures and approach
negotiations from a more informed standpoint.

If an ever-growing proportion of the urban population is falling
outside the scope of traditional land management tools, logic would
suggest those tools must evolve or become obsolete. As the global
trend of urbanisation continues the need for more inclusive
development and land management will become all the more pressing.
In the meantime, community-lled mapping and enumerations are
powerful tools to assist the urban poor in staking their claim to a
place in the city.

Marcus Tudehope works with Sahmkaum Teang Tnaut (STT), a Cambodian urban NGO based in Phnom Penh. STT has conducted participatory mapping and enumeration activities in the capital since 2008. For more information please see www.teangtnaut.org.